Customer Reviews

Thinks: School Stinks (Dig) (Mlps)

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hotlegs is the earlier incarnation of 10cc. The album features Lol Creme, Eric Stewart & Kevin Godley and the hit single "Neanderthal Man". While the album flopped(and in the process allowing for the creation of and fresh start for 10cc), it nonetheless has a number of promising moments that would point to the sucess of future 10cc albums.

Lacking the input of Gouldman(who was in America writing schlock pop for the "founders" and creators of "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy"--the Spice girls of their day), the band also lacked some of the songwriting polish that would be an earmarker of the great 10cc albums.

The production is superb. Stewart's fingerprints are all over the production & engineering of this album. "How many times", the great "Um wah, um woh" and "Fly away" all are strong enough to have been considered for the first offical 10cc album. "Suite F.A." points to the mini rock operas Godley & Creme would attempt on 10CC'S THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK and SHEET MUSIC.

Although not as good as the best even early 10cc, this album paved the way and has all the touches of later 10cc albums. In some respects, I guess, you could call this album 7cc. Well worth owning, although probably not for the casual first time fan.

...But it does show bits of unfocused promise here and there.

In some ways the music is fairly straightforward- using acoustic guitar as the base instrument in every song, while occasionally inserting a bit of horns and strings. The harmonies are reminiscent of Crosby, Stills and Nash, (less like the Beach Boys) and the song structures and performances sound a lot like what Stephen Stills and other American rock bands were doing around 1971.

F.A. Suite is probably the strongest song on the album, and it has that multi-songs in a song thing that the Beatles did on Abbey Road. The multi-parts don't always feel entirely connected as they would on later 10cc efforts like Une Nuit A Paris or Don't Hang Up, but the melodies are pretty.

Another good song is All God's Children which sounds like a mixture of early King Crimson (Cadence in Cascade) and Beach Boys idealism ("hey California")- it's a pretty song- but would have disappears in any 10cc album.

Um Wah, Um Woh has it's moments too, it has a good energy to it, but goes on a bit too long.

Everything else including, Neanderthal Man (complete with Neanderthal lyrics and Neanderthal melody and Neanderthal rhythm), has none of that amazing musical force that 10cc would start brewing roughly a years later.

If anything, this album shows a band with potential but lack of focus and vision; something Graham Gouldman gave them when they became 10cc. As the only successful song writer at that point, Gouldman's ability to create a concise pop song seemed to make all the difference in the world.

In summation, this is a pleasant album with moments of creativity, but is far from anything special.

In 1971, I attended a Moody Blues Concert in London, and the opening act was called HOTLEGS. They did their big hit, NEANDRATHAL MAN, and a number of complex pop songs, and they seemed to use an accordion synth of some sort. Wondereing what became of them after returning to college in New Hampshire, I wrote to MELODY MAKER magazine (the hip UK music rag) and asked. I'm still surprised and pleased that they wrote back (would that ever happen today?) to alert me to the fact that HOTLEGS was now known as 10CC.

Given where all these fellows went, from 10cc, to Godley & Creme being pioneers in music video production, Eric Stewart playing with Paul McCartney, and Graham Gouldman recording with Andrew Gold, this LP (CD) is a cornerstone for any 10cc fan. Newcomers might start with one of the twenty odd "Best of 10cc" collections to get their feet wet. Then, if you join the rest of us unworthy fans, you will enjoy HOTLEGS.

I heard about this album years ago and knew that it was members of 10cc, and always wondered what it sounded like. Luckily, I found it in a cutout section, and this has been a favorite ever since. In my opinion, this is better than the 1st 10cc album. Very Beatle-ish in spots, and rocking at times also. Fly away is a beautiful song. Neanderthal Man has drums that remind me of The Move's excellent "Feel Too Good" from the "Looking On" album. Well worth picking up. I wish they'd reissue it with bonus tracks.

Sort of a cult classic, "Thinks: School Stings" comes alive and gives us a glimpse of the forthcoming 10cc. The opening track "Neaderthal Man" became a hit by accident--while testing the equipment for the newly established Strawberry Studios Godley, Creme and Stewart came up with this ditty which an A&R man heard and immediately wanted to release stating it was a hit single. This novelty song did become a hit (and it was covered also by The Idle Race who also turned it into a hit as well)which is a surprise given how simple it is. Oh well no one lost many under estimating the intelligence of the public.

The rest of the album is really nothing like that single. "How Many Times" has a folky flavor while "Desperate Dan" musically wouldn't have been out of place on an early Elton John album. "Take Me Back" sounds like something that might have been on the first two 10cc albums but it lacks eccentric time changes. "U, Wah, "Um Woh" has some of the nonsensical humor that would be characteristic of 10cc and the musical changes one might expect.

THe most impressive piece, though, is "Suite F.A" which Godley & Creme wrote and that foreshadows "One Night in Paris" from "The Original Soundtrack". The album as a whole has as much more folky flavor and many songs could easily have come from one of the albums by CSN & Y. "Fly Away" features Eric Stewart on lead vocals (many of the lead vocals are handled by Kevin Godley). "Run Baby Run" a bluesy number with Stewart on lead vocals features some nice guitar playing from Stewart. The closing track "All God's Children" sounds like it could have been recorded by The Beach Boys around the time of "Pet Sounds".

This album is for die hard 10cc fans but be warned little of this sounds like the four albums that the original quartet would make (or the duo of Stewart & GOuldman with their new recruits for that matter). The packaging for the Japanese import recreates the original with pictures of various items you might find in a desk (and which inspired the packaging for one of ALice Cooper's classic albums).

Is this a great album? No. Is it essential? No. Is it enjoyable? Yeah as long as you realize that it will sound little like the band that you've come to love and know.

...But it does show bits of unfocused promise here and there.

In some ways the music is fairly straightforward- using acoustic guitar as the base instrument in every song, while occasionally inserting a bit of horns and strings. The harmonies are reminiscent of Crosby, Stills and Nash, (less like the Beach Boys) and the song structures and performances sound a lot like what Stephen Stills and other American rock bands were doing around 1971.

F.A. Suite is probably the strongest song on the album, and it has that multi-songs in a song thing that the Beatles did on Abbey Road. The multi-parts don't always feel entirely connected as they would on later 10cc efforts like Une Nuit A Paris or Don't Hang Up, but the melodies are pretty.

Another good song is All God's Children which sounds like a mixture of early King Crimson (Cadence in Cascade) and Beach Boys idealism ("hey California")- it's a pretty song- but would have disappears in any 10cc album.

Um Wah, Um Woh has it's moments too, it has a good energy to it, but goes on a bit too long.

Everything else including, Neanderthal Man (complete with Neanderthal lyrics and Neanderthal melody and Neanderthal rhythm), has none of that amazing musical force that 10cc would start brewing roughly a years later.

If anything, this album shows a band with potential but lack of focus and vision; something Graham Gouldman gave them when they became 10cc. As the only successful song writer at that point, Gouldman's ability to create a concise pop song seemed to make all the difference in the world.

In summation, this is a pleasant album with moments of creativity, but is far from anything special.